This year I will be running 2 marathons 3 weeks apart to raise much needed funds for Brain Tumour Research. The first marathon will be London on 21st April and the second Leeds on 12th May. Brain tumours kill more men under 70 than prostate cancer, more women under 35 than breast cancer and more children than leukemia, yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002. This has to change.

Why am I doing this? I first become aware of this terrible disease in 1985 when I lost my grandfather, BomBom as we called him. He was super fit, active and only 62 when he passed away. A professional footballer in his youth he played for Partick Thistle and then captained Hexham Hearts following his move to Northumberland. He was a country vet after his footballing career looking after “big beasts” (no pets!) as well as serving as the vet for Hexham racecourse. He was diagnosed in April 1985 and died that August. It came completely out of the blue and the speed at which we lost him was a deep shock to our family. Then in 2022 we lost a dear friend after an 18 month battle, he was only 42 leaving behind his wife and three young daughters. It became clear to me how little the treatment options seem to have progressed in the intervening years due to a lack of funding here in the UK so I decided to take on the challenge of running 2 marathons within 3 weeks of each other.

I am fundraising for Brain Tumour Research as they are the only national charity dedicated to funding long-term, sustainable research in the UK. Please help me fund the fight. Together we will find a cure.

Follow my training here: https://www.instagram.com/johnsrunningamarathon/